Comments on: The unheralded monopoly

CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos takes the measure of ARM, a chip designer that enjoys as formidable a monopoly as behemoths like Microsoft and Intel.

Market Share doesn't make a monopoly

I find it extremely unlikely that ARM will ever be considered a monopolist in the same category as Microsoft. Monopolies are not defined by what percentage market share they have. They are defined by their ability to dictate prices. The most damning piece of evidence against Microsoft was something that was barely mentioned in court - That fact that during a period when every component that went into the PC (from the chassis to the processor) dropped dramatically in price, the cost of the operating system remained steady. PC companies were able to squeeze deals out of everyone in their supply chane except Microsoft.
Despite its growing market share, ARM will never be able to dictate prices in this manner. Competitiong from other standards and between its licensees will prevent it. The fact that ARM goes to the trouble and expense to "bend over backwards to accomodate customers and potential clients" shows the true nature of its position. ARM needs to do this in order to spread its standard. A true monopolist could tell its customers to take it or leave it and then keep the support money for its shareholders.

Narcissism

John Doe is exactly correct. Gates acts, not his unique situation,
makes the difference. Destructive monopolists are a breed which
sieze unbridled power, coupled with narcissism. This narcissism
spews forth self serving actions under a self riteous sense of
entitllement. They are "entitled" to the "fruits" of their
situation, something that is time limited under our concepts of
patents and copyright law. Monopolists extend
their ownership in time and thus breadth.

[nzamparello]

Already Done!

Hhehehe! Already I can tell that the journalist did NOT do his homework! ARM did make an entry into the consumer market... Remember the 3DO game system.. You know the very first 32-bit, cd-based game system with mpeg video playback!?!? That was powered by a 25 MHz arm-100 processor! HELLO!!! That's what got arm on the map in the first place!

[Prndll]

What's the problem?

C'mon CNET! The general publics opinion of "evil" refers to the way a company uses it's power. Having the power is a completely differant thing.

example: each person has the ability to kill, the evil is in the act of killing.